


The Favorite

by Ryu_Reikai_Akuma



Series: The Rather Unusual and Possibly Lengthy Courtship [1]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Animal Death, Bifur is more observant than people think, Dwalin is the best bro in Middle Earth, F/M, Hunters & Hunting, Kili is adorable and totally spoiled, M/M, Pre-Slash, thorin is not so secretly a softie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-30
Updated: 2015-04-30
Packaged: 2018-03-26 11:05:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3848623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryu_Reikai_Akuma/pseuds/Ryu_Reikai_Akuma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bifur noticed there’s something unusual between Thorin and Kili.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Favorite

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Closing In
> 
> This is (un)surprisingly a bit more serious than the other installments. I tried to make it funny but it’s just not working and my brain is still too fried from work to make proper jokes. I’m bad at this happy fic thing.

Bofur and Bombur were looking at him strangely. Bifur frowned, wondering what they’re thinking. Had he given Bombur’s children fire-breathing toys again? Had he replaced Bofur’s ale with vegetable juice? Bifur growled as his head throbbed from thinking, and his cousins exchanged glances.

“If we go now we’ll catch enough game for everyone before dark,” someone said somewhere behind Bifur.

Something passed on Bofur and Bombur’s faces and Bifur suddenly thought of the twin menaces Bombur just welcomed into his home a few months ago. No one mentioned anything, but Bifur noticed that everyone had eaten less since then. Happy as they were with the new addition to their already large family, things hadn’t become easier for Bifur’s family since their births. Bifur approached his cousins and patted their arms. “I’ll bring home a lot of meat for us,” he promised them.

Bofur tensed but then laughed loudly. “You’d better keep your words!” Bofur said with a grin which seemed a little too wide. However, beside him, Bombur’s stomach growled a reply, and Bifur considered it a confirmation that his guess was correct.

“Let’s go!”

Bifur knew that voice well. It had led him in a battle many decades ago. He had followed it unquestioningly then, and he would follow it always. Bifur followed the source of the voice, Thorin Oakenshield, his king, barely noticing when his cousins approached Dwalin to talk to him. Bifur walked closely behind Thorin to guard him from any danger the forst might present and seconds later Dwalin joined him. The warrior gave him a menacing glance. It would’ve worked on lesser dwarfs, but Bifur had crafted for him a toy bear he had refused to part with until he was fifty. He wasn’t impressed.

Bifur watched curiously as one of the princes-Kili-ran forward and crouched down to study something in the ground, his footsteps barely making any sound. The spare heir, some called Kili in hushed tones. The elf prince, crueler ones said of him. Despite his loyalty and respect to Durin’s Folks, Bifur couldn’t deny that Kili lacked dwarven characteristics and not only physically. The excited smile on his face as he interpreted whatever it was that he saw on the ground was un-Durin-like. Durin Folks either scowled at people hard enough to make them cry or smirk smugly enough to start a fight (or, in Dis’s case, smiled so sweetly until people begged for her to spare their lives, but no one spoke of that). Kili’s carefree smile was an anomaly, but whether it’s a good anomaly or not remained to be seen.

Thorin approached his nephew, his footsteps too loud compared to Kili’s, making it clear that he wasn’t a skilled hunter. They spoke quietly for a moment and then Thorin returned to the group. “Get ready,” he told them briskly.

Bifur nodded and tightened his grip of his trusted spear. They walked deeper into the forest, following the track Kili had found. Sweat beaded Bifur’s skin the longer they walked and he wiped it absently. The leaves above did little to protect them from summer sun and Bifur was grateful for his thin clothes. Some of the dwarfs behind them had slowed down, the heat and the efforts of keeping quiet exhausting them. However, this seemed to not be the case with the princes. Bifur watched with interest how they bounded away and disappeared among the trees and bushes to investigate trails before returning to report their findings to Thorin. Fili was more subdued, seemingly taking his role as a scout seriously. Kili, on the other hand, always returned with a wide grin and leaves and twigs on his hair and clothes, looking as if he had just playing around in the forest rather than scouting for games for the hunting party. His excitement was palpable in his grin when he reported to Thorin what he had seen. Bifur thought this would annoy Thorin (hunting in summer while wearing a fur coat couldn’t possibly help his mood… which would explain why he brooded so much. It’s not an inherited nature. Just impractical choice in fashion), but the king merely picked the leaves and twigs carefully as he listened to whatever Kili was saying, earning happy but slightly puzzled looks from the young dwarf.

Bifur glanced at Dwalin when the tall warrior huffed beside him. Dwalin returned his look with narrowed eyes. “He’s his favorite,” he explained after a pause.

Bifur nodded in understanding. When he looked back to the pair, Thorin was signing that they should split the party, meaning that their game was near. Thorin, Fili, Dwalin, along with several dwarfs go to one direction, while Bifur joined the group that followed Kili and went to another direction. He was rather reluctant to leave Thorin but still he obeyed for to him Thorin’s orders were absolute.

Kili was quick on his feet, owing to his light weight. Despite his extensive experience, Bifur had to struggle to follow him. Still, he was the only one who managed to stay close to Kili while the others lagged behind. He grunted in annoyance when Kili slowed down to allow the others to catch up to them.

“Bifur, is it?” Kili whispered, surprising Bifur who hadn’t expected the prince to recognize him, let alone talk to him. He grinned when Bifur nodded. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Who told you?” Bifur asked.

“Bofur, mostly. We drink together sometimes, though maybe he’s too drunk to remember me,” Kili answered cheekily, “Mister Dwalin and Balin have mentioned you as well. I heard you’re a great warrior.”

Bifur could see now why Kili was Thorin’s favorite despite their clashing personalities. The lad was quite charming in an innocent sort of way. Briefly, Bifur wondered whether he had only ever _spoken_ to Bofur, in which case his family should evacuate Ered Luin before Thorin or worse, Dis, heard the news. “They spoke too much,” Bifur said gruffly.

Kili snickered quietly. He looked behind them to see whether the others had caught up to them and then searched for boars’ trail in front of them. His smile disappeared as he took on a more serious façade, one more fitting for a dwarf royalty but seemed rather out of place after Bifur’s brief exchange with him. “They’re close. We have to be quiet.”

They dispersed as they approached the boars. Bifur could hear their heavy steps now and though he couldn’t see them yet, he knew they’re quite large. Carefully, they inched forward until Bifur could see the backs of the boars. There were four adult ones that he could see and he was eager to bring their meat back home. Bombur and his wife would be happy. It might also help her forgive him for the fire-breathing toys. Her hair was still slightly singed to this day, though the children were so impressed by the effect that they asked for more.

As Kili took aim, there was tension in the air. Even the forest had stilled, as if holding its breath for the first strike. They didn’t have to wait long. The stillness was broken suddenly by a pained squeal when Kili’s arrow found its mark on the head of one of the boars. The rest of the terrified animal noises were drowned by dwarf battle cry. For a moment Bifur saw red as he was transported back to Moria, forgetting that he was in the forest and his enemies were animals instead of orcs. The memory of the orc whose axe head was embedded in his head taunted him, sneering at the injury which should have killed Bifur but only took his life instead. Bifur swung and stabbed his spear wildly, ignoring the throbbing pain in his forehead, intent on making the orc pay for the suffering he had caused.

It took Dwalin roughly shaking Bifur to remind him of where he was. When he remembered that he had left Moria behind, Dwalin was holding Bifur’s spear away from himself. Guiltily, Bifur withdrew his spear and muttered an apology. He then noticed that only two boars had been killed, Dwalin’s battle axe embedded deep in each other their head and spear wounds on their bodies. The orc was nowhere in sight, but most importantly, neither were the other boars he had seen earlier. Bifur looked around them. Weren’t there four adult ones?

“Those idiots scared them,” Dwalin growled in annoyance.

Bifur glared at said idiots who wisely stepped back from the combined forces of his and Dwalin’s glares. If he didn’t come back with enough meat for ten growing children, the axe head would find home in someone else’s head, he warned them. He might have miscalculated the number of children, but it’s not his fault that Bombur’s wife got pregnant or gave birth every time Bifur turned his back to the couple for more than five minutes. Nevertheless, he continued to gesture quickly and waved his spear around, nearly cutting Dwalin’s other ear in the process (it would make a decent match with the other one but he didn’t think the warrior would appreciate the effort to create symmetry). In his annoyance at being denied a long-delayed feast, it took him a while to realize that some dwarfs were missing.

“Where’s Oakenshield?” Bifur asked Dwalin urgently, thumping his arm to indicate who he was talking about.

As if to answer him, a shout came from the distance. Dwalin cursed loudly and ran toward it, Bifur following closely behind, not caring whether the other dwarfs followed them. There was blood on the ground but Bifur didn’t know whether it belonged to the boar or one of the dwarfs. Not having time to stop and assess the situation, Dwalin and Bifur took off to different directions to find their king.

Bifur’s legs were aching by the time he spotted an angry wounded boar. Some distance in front of it, Thorin knelt, gripping his side, his axe thrown far from his reach and his sword held tight in bloody hand. Bifur gritted his teeth as he forced himself to run faster, but he wasn’t fast enough. The boar charged toward Thorin with an angry sound before Bifur could reach them. Thorin held his sword in front of him, ready to defend himself.

Suddenly an arrow flew from behind Thorin and hit the boar precisely on the center of its head. It slowed the animal down and gave Thorin time to move away from its path. The next arrows came in quick successions, all hitting the boar until it fell to the ground. Bifur slowed, panting heavily, as Kili appeared and ran toward the dying boar. He abandoned his bow and drew out his sword, ready to deliver the killing blow, but Thorin pulled his arm to stop him. Kili frowned and made as if to argue, but then he saw Thorin’s condition and quickly dropped his sword and knelt beside Thorin.

“I’m all right, Kili,” Bifur heard Thorin say. He stopped out of their view when Thorin held Kili’s arm tighter to stop him from examining his wounds frantically and smiled to him. Smiled! What’s next? Thorin actually finding his way to his destinations without getting lost at least twice? “You did very well.”

However, Kili didn’t seem to be pleased with the compliment or fazed by the smile. He gripped the fur of Thorin’s coat tightly and frowned. “I shouldn’t have let you out of my sight,” he argued.

Thorin shook his head. “You did well,” he repeated. He then leaned forward to rest his forehead on his nephew’s. His smile widened slightly when Kili shut his eyes and took a deep breath. Bifur could see his thumb moving back and forth on Kili’s arm to calm him, the innocent gesture turning intimate when Kili opened his eyes to look into Thorin’s.

Bifur silently stepped away when Kili resumed examining Thorin’s wounds with care. Everything he had seen today made sense now. It’s a little unexpected, but Bifur would not begrudge anyone happiness, wherever he found it. Bifur glanced back and saw Kili’s fingers tentatively lingered on Thorin’s bruises and Thorin’s adoring look.

Bifur spent the next half an hour growling at everyone who tried to go near Thorin and Kili. Dwalin looked ready to murder him with his bare hands (or forehead, as it were) and Fili seemed displeased and suspicious, but Bifur resolutely pointed his spear to them. The art of courtship had been mostly lost to him but he knew enough to give couples some private time. It certainly worked with Bombur and his wife, although thankfully in this case leaving the couple alone for more than five minutes wouldn’t result in pregnancy news a few weeks later. Instead, Thorin and Kili returned to the group while dragging the heavy boar behind them, which was far more useful than a pair of screaming babies. Bifur finally dropped his weapon, allowing Dwalin and Fili to come near Thorin and Kili. He studied the way Thorin watched Kili inspect the other boars they had killed and how Kili glanced at the king when no one, Thorin included, was looking. Bifur frowned. It seemed that things were a little more complicated than he had initially thought. , Both dwarfs were too preoccupied by other things to realize that their feelings were returned. But, when had things been easy for Durin Folks? Even Dis had to threatened to run away to join elves to get her father and brother’s approval for her husband.

As the rest of the dwarfs fussed over Thorin’s wounds and the boars, Bifur approached Kili. “I’m happy for you,” he said. “Come to our tavern when you can.”

Kili blinked. “Thank you?” he replied tentatively. “And I will.”

Bifur nodded and went to help the dwarfs carry the games. He would bring a lot of meat home today and they would have a party. There’s much to celebrate, not only the successful hunt. Bifur grabbed nearby wild flowers and stuffed them to his pocket. He nodded happily to himself as he imagined giving them to Bombur’s wife. Tonight he would give her and Bombur ten minutes alone.


End file.
